1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of communications and more particularly to voice and data communications in integrated digital network-analog radio tactical training environments.
2. Description of the Related Art
The ability to bridge live and virtual (L-V) radio networks is of particular interest in large scale training environments, particularly in the military training community.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical large scale training environment 10 incorporating L-V communications. L-V systems are characterized by three components: live communication devices 12, virtual communication devices 14, and a means to bridge voice and data between live and virtual communication devices 16, for example dedicated communications circuits. As used herein, “live communications device” is an analog radio, such as a tactical radio (also referred to alternatively herein as a“live radio”), and is typically located with field resources. Live participants engage in a training exercise using the representative analog radio communications that are anticipated to be used during actual situations. In particular training environments, virtual radio equipment may also be used, for example, to train command and control skills, and may be housed within a training facility 18. If a training exercise requires operators of live and virtual equipment to communicate, a set of the communication circuits is required to be dedicated for that purpose. Other circuits may also be defined as well for transmissions among exclusively live or exclusively virtual radios.
Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, multiple live radios 20 linked to multiple virtual radios 22 residing on a wide area network (WAN) 24 through radio bridge circuits 26 are illustrated. Each radio bridge circuit dedicated to L-V communications comprises a relay radio 28 and a Live Radio Bridge (LRB) 30. Live radios operate at specific radio frequencies (RF) 32, whereas virtual radios 22 communicate digitally over a wide area network (WAN) 24. The relay radio of each radio bridge circuit operates on one dedicated RF frequency, corresponding to the capabilities of the live radios. The relay radio transmits and receives voice and data through analog transmissions. The LRB converts analog voice and data signals received from the relay radio from analog to digital, and conversely converts voice and data from the WAN to analog for receipt by the relay radio.
It can be appreciated that the number of live communication devices and virtual radios determines the number of number of required relay radios and bridges, thereby increasing the required costs to conduct complex exercises. However, until now there has not been a method for optimizing the number of required radio bridge circuits for voice and data communications in integrated digital network-analog radio tactical training environments. In addition, each relay radio needed for training is equipment that is unavailable for use by another trainee or for operations.
Unfortunately, the current L-V communication configuration is static by nature. Relay radios must be tuned to their assigned L-V circuit prior to exercise execution, and cannot be reconfigured without human interaction. This limits the level of realism injected into tactical communications training events. Thus, current LRB configurations address a subset of the LVC communication requirements, but present difficulties that impact resource availability, cost, and training realism. There is therefore a need to reduce the number of radios required to support L-V communications within an LVC training environment without negatively affecting quality of service (QoS).